PlayStation 4 Will Stream PS3 Games, Says Report

Widely anticipated to be announced next week, the PlayStation 4 (the presumed name) will allow consumers to stream PS3 games over the Internet, eliminating the need for disc backwards compatibility. According to the Wall Street Journal, the company is utilizing its $380 million purchase of Gaikai, which sources say will play a major role in Sony’s next console.

At the time of purchase, Gaikai said it couldn’t share details regarding whether Sony would utilize cloud gaming, though many speculated some form of integration would arise. This seems like the perfect opportunity for Sony to capitalize on its purchase.

It sounds like a reasonable solution, but what of the current catalog of PS3 games people own? It’ll be interesting to see what pricing structure Sony introduces if a streaming solution is in place. Either way, it’s an opportunity to make hundreds of PS3 games accessible to every new PlayStation owner on the market. That’s an incredible way to attract potential buyers.

New PlayStation 4 games, however, will only be available on optical discs.

The PlayStation 3 carried backwards compatibility for a time, but that was broken early on into its lifecycle. Sony’s upcoming PlayStation is expected to use AMD x86 chips, meaning current architecture wouldn’t be compatible. Sony’s solution to the whole issue could be Gaikai.

Sony’s event is scheduled for Feb. 20, meaning we only have a few days until the company reveals the future of PlayStation. Upgraded controllers and cloud gaming? Nothing has been announced and already we can’t wait.